Hull on earth as Murphy mauls Tigers

Danny Murphy's first goals for Liverpool eased a half-experimental but still formidable line-up towards a second-leg dawdle at Anfield.

The former Crewe midfielder's first-half brace took the edge off what might have been a tricky assignment given Hull's fleeting menace and the characteristic uncertainty of Liverpool's defending regardless of personnel. Their attacking play, however, was effortless and fluent, as it has been most of this season.

There was a time, roughly 30 years ago, when a far mightier Liverpool would have been a touch trembled by a visit to Boothferry Park. Back then, Hull attracted 30,000 crowds in the push for promotion to the old First Division. Even 10 years ago, when Liverpool last visited Humberside, they had a scare in the FA Cup, winning 3-2 before more than 20,000.

Now, after decades of dereliction and decay, Hull's dilapidated old ground is restricted to a capacity half that number. But it is indicative of the club's revival that most of the available space was full last night.

Warren Joyce's side, who escaped dropping into the Nationwide Conference last year, were unhinged early on by a move which found their 3-5-2 system wanting.

Vladimir Smicer escaped down Hull's right flank and crossed low into the area. Erik Meijer, the German recruit called into the starting line-up with Robbie Fowler among those rested, stepped over the ball in a moment of instinctive awareness of a colleague better placed behind him. Sure enough, Murphy appeared. His finish was assured.

To be fair, there was a spell in mid-half when Hull made Liverpool distinctly uncomfortable. Djimi Traore made a timely intervention to foil the dangerous-looking David Brown but was among those guilty of allowing space through the centre when John Schofield sent Gary Brabin through a yawning gap for a shot that ricocheted off the base of an upright. Hull seemed to lose heart after that, and Liverpool, enjoying both the pristine playing surface and the freedom of one of the League's bigger grounds, scored another excellent goal on the half-hour.

David Thompson, always menacing down the right, crossed for Smicer to set up Murphy with some clever footwork. The Czech contrived to play the ball behind him and Murphy whipped the ball home. Meijer scored Liverpool's third, smartly on the turn, early in the second period and it became a question of how many Gerard Houllier's men wanted to accumulate.

Hull recovered a measure of hope when Liverpool's vulnerability on set-pieces enabled Brown to convert Eyre's corner, but close-range efforts from Meijer and Steve Staunton ensured a realistic scoreline.